College basketball: Central Ohio Watch

Tuesday

Jan 21, 2014 at 12:01 AMJan 21, 2014 at 9:48 AM

The words "polar vortex" were not part of Brian Sullivan's vocabulary as a sociology student or in everyday life until his family and girlfriend started giving him weather reports about this bitter winter in central Ohio. Sullivan is a sophomore at Davidson College, which is about 20 minutes north of Charlotte, N.C. He grew up in Upper Arlington.

Mark Znidar, The Columbus Dispatch

Brian Sullivan, Davidson

The words polar vortex were not part of Brian Sullivan’s vocabulary as a sociology student or in everyday life until his family and girlfriend started giving him weather reports about this bitter winter in central Ohio.

Sullivan is a sophomore at Davidson College, which is about 20 minutes north of Charlotte, N.C. He grew up in Upper Arlington.

“I like to check the weather every day back home,’’ he said yesterday. “I like to remind my parents and girlfriend how much warmer it is here. Right now, it’s about 46 degrees and sunny. It’s not too bad.’’

The report on Sullivan’s basketball career is pleasant. He has started all 19 games and is averaging 31.5 minutes. He ranks first on the team in three-pointers (44), second in scoring (12.3) and steals (19) and third in assists (40).

Sullivan and the Wildcats created a stir by taking North Carolina to the limit before losing 97-85 in overtime on Dec. 21. He scored 33 points on seven threes. He missed a three-pointer from the top of the key with one second remaining in regulation that would have won it.

“It has been great in terms of my decision to come here,’’ Sullivan said. “I couldn’t be happier academically and athletically. This is where I needed to be from the start. I feel at home. I feel like I can spend the rest of my basketball career here with these guys.’’

Sullivan started at Miami University, but transferred after an outstanding freshman season in 2011-12. He averaged 10.3 points and made 79 three-pointers for the second-highest total in team history.

Longtime coach Charlie Coles retired and was succeeded by John Cooper, but that was not the primary reason that brought about the change.

“I honestly didn’t think about how long coach Coles would be there as much as I should,’’ Sullivan said. “But it wouldn’t be fair to say that was the only reason. I enjoyed my time there. It just wasn’t the right fit. The school was a little too big for me. It just didn’t cater to my personality. I like knowing everyone. The enrollment at Davidson is 1,800, and I know a lot of people.’’

The only negative has been Sullivan’s shooting percentage. He is at 33 percent from three-point range.

“They recruited me seeing that I could score, but I’ve been struggling to shoot it,’’ he said. “ They keep telling me to shoot. I just try to make the right play. I’m not totally sure what’s going wrong (with my shot). The shots haven’t been falling. I work on my shooting all the time. It will come. I have faith in myself.’’